I have in inadvertently changed the printer permissions on my Windows 7 Home Premium system. Now I cannot do any changes to my printers. I cannot add any additional printers, changesettings/preferences, etc..... How can I fix this? I have tried many things without any luck. EDIT: additional info I get an error message stating "Windows can't open Add Printer. Access is denied" when trying to add a printer When I right click an existing printer, I do not see printer preferences or printer properties. Seems like I do not have any permissions to do ANYTHING with any of my printers!!

Log out of your profile and login as Administrator to reassign permissions to yourselfPlease remember to flag a post that helps you as "answer" so that it may help others with same problems.

My primary account is an administrator account. But I still get denied access.

In Windows 7 when you first install it you are prompted to setup your primary account (which normally has admin rights) but it also should have setup a separate admins account that will override even what you do in your primary account. (you will have to enable user switching to get the admin log in prompt).Please remember to flag a post that helps you as "answer" so that it may help others with same problems.

I created another administrator account, but I still don't have permissions. Switched that new administrator account to a standard user, only then can I print, add/manage printers, etc....

Hi, Before going further, I would like to know how the printer permission was changed. How do you know that? If it is possible, please enable the built-in administrator account and change the permission back. To enable the account, please open CMD with administrator privileges and type the following command. net user administrator /active:yes To disable the account: net user administrator /active:no However, if you don't know how the permission is changed, please try the following methods and let me know the result. 1. Reinstall the printer driver from manufacture's site. 2. Verify the Print Spooler service is running. a. Click Start, type services.msc in Start Search bar, and then press Enter. b. In the right pane, double-click Print Spooler. c. In the Startup type list, click Automatic, click Apply, click Start, and then click OK. 3. Open command prompt with privileges, copy and paste the following command. rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /il runas /user:compturnam\admini "rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /il 4. Try the KB: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981070 Best Regards, Niki Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

@Niki Han I should add this printer is an HP psc 750. Still don't have privileges to do anything under the hidden administrator account. But I do have privileges under a standard user account. 1) Install setup won't let me install driver. 2) The spooler is running, checked this multiple times. 3) The terminal read as follows: After the inputting the command "rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /il", a window popped up saying: Windows Can't Open Add Printer. Access is denied C:\Windows\system32>runas /user:compturnam\admini "rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIE ntry /il Enter the password for compturnam\admini: Attempting to start rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /il as user "compturnam\ad mini" ... RUNAS ERROR: Unable to run - rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /il 1326: Logon failure: unknown user name or bad password. 4) Seems risky, not sure I want to try this step.

Any other advice or tips?

Hi, Please try the hotfix if you are running Windows 7 64-bit. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981070 If you are running Windows 7 32-bit system, disable security software and try the following KB. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973479 Also, boot in Safe Mode and try to run the command again. L.S

The hotfix did nothing. Downloaded and installed the .exe file and restarted the PC. To summarize: - Can't open Printer Wizard. - Can't Print. - Error message pops up when trying to add a printer saying, "Windows can't open Add Printer. Access is denied." - Can access printer preferences or printer properties. - Scanner works. - Attempted all fixes posted. Thanks for everyone's help. All started when I messing with the permissions for the printers, and may have removed my privileges to print, add printer or manage my printer.